


A Mother's Love

by lolitaweasley



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-15
Updated: 2019-07-15
Packaged: 2020-06-29 06:48:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 941
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19824751
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lolitaweasley/pseuds/lolitaweasley
Summary: Scorpius Malfoy and The Bloody Baron have a heart-to-heart and discover they have more things in common than they thought.





	A Mother's Love

**Author's Note:**

> This was written for the Half-Blood Prince challenge hosted by Draco's Den. I was given the characters The Bloody Baron and Scorpius Malfoy. I also needed to include Draught of Living Death.

Scorpius Malfoy leaned against the cold, stone walls of the Astronomy Tower as he listened to the familiar sighing and groaning of his companion. Ever since he was allowed freedom to wander around this large castle, Scorpius found that the Astronomy Tower was his favorite place. It was less stuffy than his father’s potions classroom and The Bloody Baron was usually good at sharing the space. Scorpius now found the constant sounds of chains and moaning to have a calming effect. Scorpius and his father had moved into Hogwarts castle when he was just two years old. He didn’t remember what life had been like before.

He sighed and took another bite of the apple he was holding in his hands.

“Young man, I have told you before that you are welcome here, but it is my penance to make those noises, so I would kindly ask you to stop.”

Scorpius looked up and gave a small smile to The Bloody Baron, who had stopped right in front of him. “Sorry, Baron, I’ll do my best to keep my whines to a minimum.”

The Bloody Baron nodded and then continued with his haunting of their space. He kept a watchful eye on the young man as he moved about the room. He could tell that something was off today. Usually the boy spent his time rambling and informing the Baron of all the goings on in the castle, but he was unusually quiet today.

Scorpius let out a deep breath, dropped the apple core and pulled his knees up to his chest.

“All right, out with it boy,” the ghost declared as he moved closer and dropped his chains.

Scorpius looked up with wide eyes, “What?”

“Obviously something is wrong and you need to talk about it. You keep moaning and groaning and frankly I’m sick of it.”

Scorpius snorted at the irony of the ghost’s statement, but The Bloody Baron continued to stare at the boy.

Scorpius straightened his legs and asked, “What do you know about your mother?”

“I beg your pardon? What does that matter to you?”

Scorpius sniffled a little. “Since I can remember, I have always asked my father to tell me about my mother, but he has always said that is something that we will discuss when I’m older.”

The Bloody Baron nodded for him to continue.

“Well, I got my answer today. I guess my father figured since I will be a first year in the fall I am old enough to know.”

“Well, what did he have to say?”

“He said that he and my mother never had a loving marriage. It had been arranged for them in order to provide a suitable heir for the Malfoy line.”

“Yes, that often happens with our sort,” The Bloody Baron replied.

Scorpius nodded and continued, “I guess my mother was never content. Even after I was born she wasn’t happy with the marriage and wasn’t happy about having to provide an heir. When I was eight months old she left my father and I to travel and run away from her responsibilities. We haven’t seen her since.”

“I, too, understand the pain of a mother’s neglect,” whispered his companion.

“What do you mean?” prodded Scorpius.

“When I was a young boy I would do anything to try and win my mother’s approval, but like your mother she had been forced into a marriage that she did not desire and I was a result of that marriage,” he shuttered. “When I was five years old, I entered her chambers to try and convince her to play with me, but I found her lying cold and still. I called for father and we made arrangements made for her burial. When it was time to say our goodbyes she was nowhere to be found.”

Scorpius inhaled in surprise, “What happened to her? Where was her body?”

“Well, my dear boy, it turns out that she’d had enough of playing dutiful wife and mother. She had procured Draught of Living Death and used it to appear deceased. When her body had been left in wait for the burial her chambermaid snuck in and gave her the antidote. A few servants later told us that they had seen her leaving, but they were convinced that it was her spirit making its way home. Her chambermaid confessed the whole thing, but my father being a proud man continued with the tale of her tragic, young death."

“Your mother faked her own death to get away from you?”

The Bloody Baron chuckled coldly, “My father warned me repeatedly to never trust a woman or they would break your heart.”

“I guess you forgot your father’s advice when you fell for the Grey --” Scorpius coughed.

The Bloody Baron glared at Scorpius.

“You’ve gotta admit that having had one woman leave you because she thought she would be happier without you is kind of heart breaking. And then later in life another woman rejects you. No wonder you exploded like an unopened howler!”

“Silence! I admit that my reaction was extreme, but in the moment I was blinded by my emotions. I feel remorse and for that reason I pay my dues here, but Helena should never have led me to believe she felt a certain way about me. Now please, boy, leave me to return to my penance.” He gathered his chains and continued his wailing.

Scorpius quickly stood up and made his way down the stairs. He mumbled to himself about needing to ask his father for a bottle of the antidote so that he would never fall for that dirty trick.


End file.
